Consumer Advocate Ron Burley You can't win them all, and I am sometimes relegated to the role of cautionary-tale teller. All Susan Weems wanted was to spend a few months in Arizona. The 63-year-old AARP member shelled out $2,195 via cashier's check to Apartment Locators of Tucson as a rental deposit for a home. She became worried when a . Weems says the agency's manager, Mary Anne Shaw, told her the " was the contract." "That made me uneasy," Weems says. "From then on, she didn't respond to any of my queries." When we reached Shaw, she claimed Weems' attitude was the real problem and that "we may just have to reimburse her the deposit," adding she'd need the property owner's permission. We then discovered the property owner planned to sell rather than rent. We found the new listing agent, who said the owner had sent Shaw a letter indicating his intentions more than a month before my phone conversation. Emails and phone calls to Apartment Locators went unanswered, and Weems' refund never came. Our inquiries did have some effect, though: It wasn't long before the company's local phone number was disconnected. Here's what you can do to protect yourself. • Pay with plastic. Most credit cards limit your fraud exposure to just $50. • Verify the destination of the deposit. Most states require rental deposits to be held in trust accounts. • Shun high-pressure salespeople. Consumer advocate writes the On Your Side column for AARP and is the author of Unscrewed: The Consumer's Guide to Getting What You Paid For. Got a complaint? Tell your consumer woes to Ron at .
Also of Interest
— Receive access to exclusive information, benefits and discounts Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures
Close In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails related to AARP volunteering. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly receive communications related to AARP volunteering. In the meantime, please feel free to search for ways to make a difference in your community at Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.